Let me start off by saying I'm a bit of a tweak sceptic. Given this and the fact that the last firmware upgrade did not do much for me, I installed the pikes upgrade with very tempered expectations. Boy was I in for a surprise. This is equivalent to inserting a high caliber new component in the system, say a five figure preamp. I feel I bought a BMW five series for the price of a three series, and just get a free upgrade to a seven series.
If you own a DirectStream DAC you can download the new OS by clicking here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and download Pikes Peak. It is a free upgrade for DirectStream owners. If you need help installing it, there's a handy How To guide here. This new upgrade is significantly better than anything we have yet released, including the last major version. I think you will be surprised at the sheer magnitude of improvement. I was and still am.
What's fascinating to me about this upgraded OS is what goes on behind the scenes to make it happen. It's something most people never get to see. I suspect it might be the same sort of thing Microsoft and Apple go through when they release an improvement to an OS, just on a different scale.
I thought it might be fun to spend a few days of posts pulling back the curtain of that process so you get a peek at how it works.
In the meantime, if you are a DirectStream owner, enjoy your new DAC with our compliments.
